The Arizona sentinel., 1887-11-12
QUEER ANTIPAIHIEs.
Peter the Great and His Dread of Water
and other Readable Stories.

and Other Readable Stories.
1t seems absolutely incredible that
Peter the Great the father of the Rus
sian navy, should shudder at the sight
of water, whether running or still, yet
so it was, especially when alone. His
palace gardens, beautiful as they were,
he never entered, because the river
Mosera flowed through them. His
coachman had orders to avoid IL
roads which led past streams, and if
compelled to cross a brook Or bridge.
the great Emperor would sit with
closed windows, in a cold perspira-
ton. Another monarch, James l.,
the English Solomon, as he liked to be
called, had many antipathies, chiefly
tobacco. ling and pork. He never
overcame his inability to look with
composure at drawn sword;
and it is said that on one occasion,
when giving the accOIade, the King
turned his face aside, nearly wounding
the new-made Knight Henry Ill of
France had so great dislike to cats
that he tainted at the sight of one. We
suppose that in this case the cat had to
waive its proverbial prerogative and
could not look at q King. This will
seem rs absurd as extraordinary to
lady lovers of that much-petted ami
NAL, but what are we to say of the
Countess of Lamballe, of unhappy his
torv, to whom a violet was thing Of
horror? Even this is not without its
precedent, for it is on record that Vim
cent, the painter, was seized with
vertigo and swoOned mt the smell of
roses. Scaliger states that one of his
relations was made i'll at the sight of a
lily, and he himself would turn pale at
the sight of water-cresses and could
never drink milk.
Charles Kingsley naturalist as he
was to the core, had a great horror Of
spiders; and in "Glaucus," after say
ing that every one seems to have his
antipathic animal, continues: Il know
one (himselD bred from his childhood
10 zoology by land and sea, and bold
in asserting and honest in feeling that
all without exception is beautiful, who
yet can not, after handling and pet
ting and examining, all day long.
every uncouth and venomous beast,
avoid a paroxysm of horror at the
sight of the common house-spider.
The writer shares in this dislike 10
a painful extent; in this case it is in
herited from his grandfather. The
genial author of the Turkish Spy
says that he would far prefer, sword
in hand, to face lion in his desert
lair than have spider crawl over him
in the dark The cat, as we have pre-
viously mentioned, has repeatedly
been an object of aversion. The Duke
of Schomberg, though redoubtable
soldier. would not sit in the same
room with a cat. A courtier of
the Emperor Ferdinand carried
this dislike so far as to bleed
at the nose on hearing a cat NEW. A
wcll-known officer of her Majesty's
army, who has proved his strength and
courage in more than one campaign,
turns pale at the sight of a cat On
one occasion, when asked out to dim
ner, his host, who was rather skeptical
rs to the reality of this feeling, con-
cealed a cat in an ottoman in the dim
ing-room. Dinner was announced aud
commenced, but his guest was evident
ly i'll at ease. and at length declared
his inability to go on eating, as he was
sure there was cat in the room. An
apparently thorough but unavailing
search was made, but his visitor was
so completely upset that the host, with
many apologies for his experiment,
''let the cat cut of the bag" and out OF
the ottoman at the same time. Lord
Louderdale, on the other hand, de-
clared that the mewing of a cat was
10 him sweeter than any music, while
he had the greatest dislike to the flute
and the bagpipe. In this latter aver
sion he was by no means singular.
Dogs, TOO, haze come in for their
share of dislike. De Mussett cordially /
detested them. When a candidate for
the academy be called upon a promi-
nent member. AT the gate of the cha
teau dirty, ugly dog received him
most affectionately and insisted on
preceding him into the drawing-room.
De Mussett cursing his friends predi-
lection for the brute. The academician .
entered and they adjourned to the din
ing-room, the dog at their heels. Seiz-
ing his opportunity. the dog placed his
muddy paws upon the spotless cloth
and carried off bonnie bouche THE .
wretch was shootingr' was De Mus
sets muttered thought, but he politely
said:
you are fond of dogs, 1 see?"
Fond of dogs" retorted the
hate themr"
But this animal here?" queried De
Musset Il have only tolerated it be-
cause 1 thought it was yours, sir"
''Miner' exclaimed the poet; ''the
thought that it was your alone kept
me from killing him. - CaSSelps Fan-
ity Magazine.